Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters I found a real SLEEPER - unidentified 416 Rigby - real cheap

I found a real SLEEPER - unidentified 416 Rigby - real cheap

Hello All,

As you have seen, lately my interests have shifted to Big Bore rifles. I found this one on an on-line auction while I was searching. Its really neat when you discover one where the seller has no clue what he has.


Here is how it was described in the original auction listing.



The description also included a lot of the other usual info about: good bore, good wood, etc., etc.

Well, I never heard of a "Full" Magnum Length Interarms, and when I searched the Net trying to find examples of one, I was stumped. Here are the pictures that were listed in the auction.











After much searching and comparing the shape of this action, to pictures of various Interarms Actions that I located on line, I was sure this was NOT an Interarms Action. The only thing I could see that remotely resembled Interarms, was the sliding safety.

Well, I had a 'hunch' what this was. Could it be? I watched this rifle for the full 14 days of the Auction. That was a very, very long 2 weeks. And, in the last minutes of the Auction, I placed my bids. After a couple of back-and-forth bids, I was the winner! - $720 - My total cost ... $755 delivered to Wisconsin. It was 2 days before Christmas, so this was a Christmas present from myself - to myself. Perhaps the close-Christmas timing kept the other would-be-bidders too busy to find this treasure.

Here is what I found when it arrived home ...

A very nice Magnum Length BREVEX Mauser action - you can barely see the "M400" model marking and the "/92" serial number stamp. It looks like these were partially removed during the final "squaring of the action bottom and the finishing process during the rifle's build.

[img]http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct9.jpg[/img]

and .... with a SAKO trigger..... This explains the sliding side safety that looks similar to the Interarms safety.

[img]http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct7.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct8.jpg[/img]

and ..... a LES BAUSKA barrel..... This was also a surprise. Les Bauska was a famed barrel maker and worked with Buhmiller during the 50's and 60's ... likely when this rifle was built. He was known for his superb Octagon Barrels.

[img]http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct90.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct91.jpg[/img] - LES BAUSKA OBITUARY



I topped the rifle with a compact 2x-7x Burris Scope, which brought the shooting weight to just a tad over 11 pounds. The perfect weight for a 416 Rigby.

Lots of people ask me how I find so many rare collectibles. And some people call me Lucky - they are wrong. I credit my findings to a bladder problem. As I age, I find myself getting up several times a night - to pee. Before I go back to bed, I do a little WEB Surfing. The search engines run pretty fast at 2 o'clock in the morning. All the reading makes me sleepy, and I go back to bed until the next urge wakes me. And that's how I found this one.

Thank Goodness for a small bladder.

Great find and a great story!

What a dog!!! Dont' know how you found the courage it took to publicly display this thing here.

Uhhh, To save you any future shame, I'd be willing to hide it my safe for you...since I'm such a nice guy I might even be persuaded to give you $100 above what you paid....


GREAT snag!!! on a great rifle.

-Mike-

Love the gun and the story...

Need follow up on that one, for sure.

DF

Timing is everything and that's a super find!
Is the stock a laminate or had a bit added for reinforcement?

I studied the stock and like laminated for such a gun, not the style so much. If it was mine, I'd whack that hugh grip cap and remove enough wood to create more of a classic Mauser type grip, maybe open the grip curve a bit. I'd lose the forend tip, trimming the forearm to look more like an Express rifle. I think some judicious trimming could add to the Safari rifle look this Brevex deserves without having to build another stock. That one looks pretty solid.

If you aren't careful, this project could go over a grand...

Just a thought...

DF

That is awesome. Neat story to go along with it!

Very Nice

WOW !! I 'need' a 416 R like I need another hole in the head BUT

I'd been all over that like ice cream over apple pie.

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!!!

= envy.

Me, Myself, & I, We like that stock as is.

Some people even like chevy, while ugh some like dodge. <G>

It's well done, just doesn't say "Brevex Magnum" to me...

DF

Great find!

So there is something to be said for having to get up more often in the night....

Hello All,

Thanks for the replys.

Yes, the stock is a laminate. Its mostly dark-on-dark walnut made up of 1/4" thick slabs. With the thicker slabs it kinda hides the fact that its a laminated stock. Looks almost like coarse grain lines. I'm glad its not the light/dark thin layers, that look is too gaudy for my tastes. The laminated stock is quite heavy, and I'm sure very strong, designed to take the heavy recoil of the 416 factory ammo. Although recoil was stout sitting at the bench, the Federal factory ammo was actually pleasurable to shoot.

I dont mind the swoopy roosewood grip cap and the rosewood forend tip. It gives the rifle that kind of a 60's look.

Great bedtime story. I love it when a orphaned gun finds a deserving home.

What a cool story. I am so illiterate when it come to old rifles and especially of the history of Mauser actions. But I guess if I get up to pee enough, I can study up and find some potential bargains!

Thanks for sharing.

If there ever was a "Pee Dividend" this has to be it...

DF

A buddy of mine if fond of saying, never mess with a Dodge owner. He's already mad...

That stock sure does have the 60's look and is really well done. I'm the type that always wants to mess with something, so my reaction was to cut a safari type stock out of that one. But, I see the OP's point of letting it be what it is and enjoying it like he found it.

Amazing find. Wonder what that Brevex action alone is worth, not counting the great barrel...?

Don't you know, some advanced gun nut put that together. It would be another great story to know the history of that gun. Too many guys pass on to their rewards, leaving behind guns like that with no one around to know what they have.

I heard it said a gun nut's greatest concern: When he died, his wife would sell his guns for what he told her he paid...

DF

That's a sweet .416 Rigby Buckstix.

Have you shot it yet?

Congratulations! All those years of gunnutism sometimes pay great rewards. Well, that and the fact that it's great fun.

D F -

I don't think I'd ever build one like that stock BUT you and the OP beat me to the follow up. It's that 'classic' 60s early 70s style and I just couldn't change it.

Hope and am sure it'll shoot as GOOD as designed. SWEET !!!!!